Things got messy at Wrigley Field on Sunday, and not simply because the Cubs lost 3-0 to the Cardinals and went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
No, the real mess was on the concourse, where bathroom lines winded around the stadium. Fans even resorted to urinating into cups and onto the wall, according to Yahoo Sports.
The stadium was down three bathrooms due to the ongoing construction, and two bathrooms in the upper deck went down temporarily, forcing fans down to the main concourse where the stadium was already experiencing issues with long wait times.
Several fans who attended the sold out game said a crush of fans at the front end of the long, skinny bathrooms created such a bottleneck that the back half of the bathroom was left nearly empty.
“People tend to go to the front of the trough area and there were lines four or five deep for a spot, but no one was at the back,” said Cubs fans Pat Fitzell, 29. “Eventually, if you pushed through, it opened up because the trough extended another 50 feet that was nearly empty. But the line to the entrance was just atrocious. It definitely deterred me from going back.”
Mike Giampaolo, 32, said the problem wouldn’t have been nearly as bad had the Cubs stationed someone in the men’s bathroom to direct traffic. “My wife said there was someone in the women’s bathroom directing traffic. It would have helped.”
Griping targeted the Ricketts family.
“Things were getting heated,” Fitzell said. “People were saying, ‘The Rickets spent all this money on the Jumbotron, but can we get some more facilities instead of a bigger scoreboard?’”
Cubs vice president of communications Julian Green issued an apology from the team: “With 35,000 fans showing up in the ballpark, we were simply not prepared to handle guests during peak periods. We have high standards for service and we missed the mark last night.
“We want to apologize to our fans for the huge inconvenience. Moving forward we plan to supplement the existing restrooms with additional portable units and will continue to monitor wait times to ensure we can service our guests appropriately.”
Giampaolo said the severity the situation was blown out of proportion.
“It was annoying and inconvenient, but not unexpected. But I wanted to curtail the myth, the whole thing was getting so built up as such a disaster. “It’s opening day. The Cardinals are in town and it’s half a stadium.”
It also was an unfortunate storyline on an otherwise impressive opening night. The Cubs showed off their new video board, offered a touching tribute to late Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and debuted new manager Joe Maddon and ace Jon Lester.
Maddon described opening night as “fabulous” — except for the final score.
But that experience was overshadowed for many fans by what was going on in the bathrooms. Or, more specifically, what wasn’t going on.
Distressed fans took to social media, tweeting pictures of long lines snaking back-and-forth in Wrigley concourses.
“I’m all for renovating but I’ve now missed two innings trying to get into the bathroom,” one fan tweeted.
Here’s a look at other photos and comments via social media from fans at the game last night:
This is out of control #WrigleyField no bathrooms @Cubs pic.twitter.com/SxzrxoBYjW
— Justin (@justinbaumann) April 6, 2015
This is the other bathroom #WrigleyField #fail pic.twitter.com/Q16anBqxxx
— Justin (@justinbaumann) April 6, 2015
Hey @Cubs fix this! Been here for an inning now. pic.twitter.com/OV9wGR1Lus
— Justin (@justinbaumann) April 6, 2015
From a friend at wrigley. These are the lines for the bathroom. Ouch. Looks like the renovation hasn't gone so well. pic.twitter.com/heeUH2Rdab
— #9FingerCraig (@CraigMac) April 6, 2015